Wednesday, January 23, 2013

In November 12, 1832 the postmaster at Williamsburg Virginia sent a letter to the editors of the
Southern Pioneer in Richmond Virginia explaining that there was a fair number of subscribers who were not
picking up their copies. They were either College of William and Mary graduates who had left the area, or those who were just refusing to receive their copies. In those day, subscription payment was not before your subscription, but after! So the abandonment of copies, was usually considered an attempt to not pay a debt.

The Southern Pioneer was an Universalist publication that was ran from 1831 to 1835, starting in Richmond, Virginia and Baltimore, Maryland. So to the students in Williamsburg, it was a semi-local paper.

Those listed below were probably not Universalist, and it would be difficult to figure out why they subscribed
and then fled without paying their bills, or even if some later paid up. But because the letter is avilable, I decided to list the names of these 14 students, who were behaving badly back in 1832.

The postmaster was Jesse Cole,

Thomas Burfoot Class of 1834, of Petersburg. - In March of 1832, he was disciplined for being part of a group riding a horse in a school building. Likely to be Thomas Matthew Burfoot (1814 - 1869)

Richard H. Gregory Class of 1831, from Lombardy Grove. Son of William O. Gregory

Thomas P. Giles Class of 1832 from Amelia, son of Gov William B. Giles. (c1813- ) is not to be confused with his half-brother Thomas Tabb Giles, or the Thomas Giles from South Carolina. Luckily the College said he was the son of the Governor, so we know which Thomas Giles he was.
The Govenor had been a co-founder of the "Thomas Payne Infidel Club",
some of which may be due to living in Paineville. The Governor was an
active member of the Episcopal Church. Thomas P. Giles' daughter,
Elizabeth Peyton Giles is mention is Mary Chestnut's diary.

John H. Jones Class of 1831 from Charles City

Frederick Proctor Class of 1832 from Elizabeth City

James M. Scott - Feb. 1832, left school after participating in a duel. Possibly from Richmond , he was the son of Robert G. Scott

Edward C. Outlaw Class of 1831 from North Carolina. Edward Cherry Outlaw (1810 - 1853) brother was US Congressman David Outlaw, from Windsor in Bertie County. Family were Episcopalians. Extremely
distant kin to the Universalists at Outlaw's Bridge (and even more extremely distant kin to this writer).

John W. Greenhow Class of 1832 from Richmond, son of Robert Greenhow
The only son of Robert Greenhow who fits is James "Washington" Greenhow (1817-1849), newspaper editor in Petersburg. Nominated but declined appointment to be consul in Argentina in 1847.

John M. Maufin (Maulpin) (1807 - 1850) apparently not a student. He was the future son-in-law of the above postmaster, Mayor of Williamsburg in 1850, owner of the Custis-Maulpin house in Williamsburg, Episcopalian
.
Lucius Cary - apparently not a student. (1815 - 1845) A leading merchant in Williamsburg by the
late 1830s, may have lived in Mississippi for a few years in the early 1840s.

William G. Young, Class of 1832, son of John Young of Denbigh, Warwick (the location is now a neighborhood in Newport News). He is likely the William G. Young who actually owned the community of Denbigh in the 1860s - it was a working plantation and the former home of Colonial Governor Samuel Mathews Junior.

So, these were rich kids used to getting their way. Not surprising to see Episcopalians, as that was the church of the ruling elite in the South in those days, and these kids were being groomed to be just that.
If you wanted to succeed at politics or buisness, you went to the right church.

Missing from this list was James Lewis Corbin Griffin (1814 - 1878) was was a William And Mary student from 1826 to 1828, and 1829 to 1833. A local boy, from proniment family, who after graduation becomes a Methodist preacher, and a teacher - and later an Universalist minister. He recieved an honorary MA degree from William and Mary in 1854. Did he see a copy of the Southern Pioneer that his fellow students may have actually accepted from the Post Office?

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

One of the interesting thing about trying to get a good feeling for where Universalists were in a period of time, is trying to find out exactly where some of these towns were! Some have changed their names, and some just no longer exist. Here's where Universalist preachers in Georgia were living in 1859 - 1862,> I've divided Georgia into 4 pieces,. East and West of 1-75, and North and South of I-20. Not perfect , as I-75 starts about the center of the state in the South, but instead of heading north toward Milledgeville, it heads to Atlanta and ends up almost at the western border. Oh well.

NE: Rev Strain, Rhyne (2)
Waleska (Spaulding County) The town was founded in 1854, and known as Walesca, Misspelled as Waheskie, Wahluskie, etc.

NW: Rev Frick, Parks (2 - they moved around)
Eagle Cliff (Walker County) - is the name of the cliff off Lookout Mountain, with town below. Chattanaooga
Valley.
Frick's Gap (Walker County) If you're on the Lookout mountain Scenic Highway heading east, when you come
to the edge of the mountain, if you could look straight down, you would see Frick's Gap. In the Chattanooga Valley
LaFayette -- (Walker County), now part of the Chattanooga metro area.
Rossville -- (Walker County) Just south of Chattanooga and the Tennessee line. In between the civil war battlefields and Lookout Mountain.

SE: Rev Money (1)
Griffin's Mills - Now known as the Flat Creek Mills area (Berrien County). Just north of Nashville, Ga on US 129 (not too far from I-75)

SW: Rev Harper, Kendrick, Lewis, Pickett, Smith, Fambro (6)
Americaus (Sumter County) a few miles away from Plains.
Griffin (Spaulding County)
Gum Creek, also known as Cony or Coney Station (Crisp County). Just west of Cordele.
Plains of Dura - moved a couple of miles and renamed Plains (Sumter County) 3 Universalist ministers living here in the early 1860s.
Rutherwood - no longer a town (Carroll Coumty). between Carrollton and Newman; a little southeast of
Whitesburg on Georgia 5.

Now if we had looked ten years earlier of twenty years later, we would have seen vastly different areas.
But at the start of the Civil War, most of the Universalist ministers in Georgia were in the Southwest, and half of those in Plains. The capital of Georgia during these years was in Milledgeville (in the southeast area). No Universalist Churches in the Atlanta area during this time. But that will change.

Friday, May 11, 2012

Historic Site to Host National Gatheringof Universalist Religious Leaders

(Lanoka Harbor, NJ) May 8, 2012 - This month, the 2012 Universalist Convocations will gather at the historic site where Universalism was launched as a leading American religious movement more than two centuries ago, at the Murray Grove Retreat and Renewal Center. Because of revived popular interest in Universalism today, the Convocations have begun to fill overflow capacity beyond Murray Grove, as people nationwide travel to hear leading Universalist figures speak from a wide range of faith traditions. In this contemporary religiously pluralistic landscape, Universalism has come for many believers to signify a distinct change in the tide and tone of interfaith dialogue, in particular.

Located in the Pine Barrens of coastal New Jersey, Murray Grove marks the spot where a shipwrecked Universalist preacher stumbled ashore in 1770. From there, he began spreading the radical religious message of a loving spirit that included each and every soul in the reach of a saving grace, traveling throughout the American colonies and establishing churches. Universalism had achieved considerable religious prominence by the mid-nineteenth century before receding from view in the twentieth. Its visibility is once again changing, however.

Recently and rather rapidly, Universalism has gained ground across the country, with a few of the most famous preachers in the country identifying themselves with this latent American religious tradition, even in the face of heated public controversy and charges of heresy. Bestselling books such as Love Wins and If Grace is True have made explicit the Universalist truth claims that were quite often implicit in mainline Christianity in America. They have started to articulate a unique vision for religion in the twenty-first century.

Revitalized as an ecumenical and interfaith movement, Universalism is now crossing customary religious divides and connecting strands of religious thought among clergy from varied faith traditions. During this annual convention, a Jewish Universalist, a Hindu Universalist, a Buddhist Universalist, a Quaker Universalist, and a Unitarian Universalist will all serve as panelists in the keynote presentation at the 2012 Universalist Convocations.

This re-emerging theological trend continues to expand its influence year after year, with this year's annual convention representing a new high-water mark in the widespread national appeal of Universalism. In response to increased demand, a follow-up event at Murray Grove is already in planning stages for fall 2012.

Monday, April 16, 2012

There had been Universalist Churches in Ellaville (14 miles from Americus), Plains (10 miles), and Gum Creek (about 20+ miles, near the current GA Veteran Memorial State Park, west of Cordele).
The Plains church died during the civil war, and never re-started.

Rev Dr. L.F. W. Andrews lived in Americus in the 1870s.

Items from the Americus Ga papers from the late 19th Century to early 20th Century.

ATR = Americus Time-Recorder
WSR - Weekly Sumter Rebulican

1870 two Universalist Churches in area (Ellaville and Gum Creek)
1870 September 9 WSR LFW Andrews to hold three day meeting in Senoia, Georgia
1871 September 22 WSR LFW Andrews new paper from Columbus, Georgia: the Christian Crucible, attracting notice.
1874 June 19 WSR LFW Andrews demands correction from Rev Fackler, who in Americus, called
Universalists thieves, gamblers, and drunkards.
1875 July 31 WSR the ladies of the Universalist Church are having the same "eating station" as last year.
The paper admits they don't know what an eating station is.
1884 June -August WSR M.B. Pickett does a series of articles about education in the 1840s in Plains of Dura Schools, some of which were founded by Universalists.

1899 March 31 ATR Rev QH Shinn to preach here this week for three days. Mrs. A. K. Schumpert and Miss A. L. Pickett correspondents
1899 May 26 ATR Rev QH Shinn will preach at City Hall on Friday, on his way to preach at two services
at Ellaville on Sunday.
1900 January 5 ATR Service scheduled this Sunday at Opera House.
1900 January 12 ATR Well attended meeting at the Opera House, Q. H. Shinn, preacher. Organization and building planned.
1900 January 26 ATR Rev Shinn will talk on the Orgins of Evil
1900 February 9 ATR Dr Shinn leaves Americus, scheduled to return in May. Building to start in 3-4 weeks.
1900 March 2 ATR Shinn to preach March 4
1900 June 8 ATR Thomas Chapman to preach twice this week at City Hall.
1900 June 22 ATR The foundation of the Universalist Church Building is complete. Building is to start construction.
1900 July 20 ATR Mrs. A. K. Schumpert goes to the Universalist Convention in Atlanta.
1900 Nov 3 ATR Church building to be dedicated December 7 - 9. Present will be Shinn, Chapman, and Rev D.B. Clayton of Columbia.
1901 March 22 ATR Thomas Chapman, Georgia Superintendent from Atlanta, is to preach monthly on the 4th Sunday.
1902 May 23 ATR Rev Athalia Johnson Irwin was called to serve the Church of the Redeemer. She declines as she accepts an offer from the Universalist Church in Pensacola, Florida
1902 October 10 ATR Mr. C.S. S. Horne attends Georgia Universalist Convention
1905 June 16 ATR Stanley Manning starts his new position as minister of the Church of the Redeemer.
He is to preach twice monthly, and also at Pinehurst, Pelham, and Senoia. He is currently staying with
Col. and Mrs. W. A. Dodson.
1905 December 15 ATR Dr Shinn will assist in the ordination of the pastor, Stanley R. Manning.
1906 November 2 ATR Rev Manning officiates at the wedding of Bessie King and Emmett Cook in Preston, Georgia
1907 October 11 Rev Manning with attend the NC Universalist Convention and the General Conference in Philadelphia, he will return in early November.
1917 August 9 WTR Stanley R. Manning is to preach on "A Constructive Religion for the World's Crisis" on Thursday at the Universalist Church. He was minister in Americus for two years, and is staying with the
Dodsons.

***********
they shared the building with the Christian Scientists in the 1910s
1916-1917 Americus City Directory 112 Taylor occupied by both Christian Scientists and Universalists.
1921 Americus City Directory 112 Taylor occupied by both Christian Scientints and Universalists.
1923 Americus City Directory 112 Taylor occupied by both the Christian Church and the Universalist Church.

************
the building was sold to the Christian Church in the late 1920s.

Building sold in the 2000s by the Christian Church to the United Methodists, who in July 2011 were having Spanish language services there.

Mrs. A.K. Schumpert would be Sara K. Pickett Schumpert. (1842-1933) her husband was 30 years older and a successful farmer and "capitalist" She is his second wife. He was from Newberry and Prosperity, SC; and she was born in Feasterville SC, the daughter of M.B. Pickett, who moved to Plains (then Plains of Dura), Georgia when she was about 2.

A. L. Pickett is her sister Amy Lizzie (1862 - 1949)

C. S. S. Horne is Cullen S. S. Horne (1845 - 1929) His farm covered the land that had been Danville, Georgia, Sumter County, north-west of Gum Creek.

Col W. A. Dodson (1864 - 1923) and Mattie Dodson (1868 -1933),
Lived at 615 Lee Street in Americus. He was a lawyer, politician, and President of the Georgia Senate for one session. In 1917, he and his wife both attended the Episcopal Church. His wife's family were associated with the Universalist Church in Gum Creek.

Friday, April 13, 2012

A debate between Rev D. B. Clayton, of the Universalist Church, and Elder S. S. Landrum, of the Church of Christ, will be held in the Academy, Jug Tavern, Ga., July 7, 1886.
Proposition For Discussion:
1st. The Scriptures teach the final holiness and happiness of all mankind.
Clayton affirms; Landrum denies.
2d. The Scriptures teach that those who die in willful disobedience, of the Gospel, will suffer endless punishment.
Landrum affirms; Clayton denies.

2012 editorial comment:
Jug Tavern is now the city of Winder. It was known as Jug from 1793 to c1803, Jug Tavern starting in c1803. It was incorporated in 1884, and became the city of Winder in 1893.
The Academy was created in 1880, and at some point, apparently around 1887, it became a public school, and continued at the same site until 1938. A historic marker is all that remains of the school.
It is less than three miles from the Mulberry Grove Universalist Church.

S. S. Landrum was a preacher for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). He is known to have preached at the Antioch Christian Church near Watkinsville, Georgia during the years of 1886 - 1907, as well as founding the Christian Church in Winder in 1881. Living in Tampa. Florida in 1907, and then moved to Texas. Preaching in Missouri in 1905, he was called a "Southern Evangelist".
So therefore likely a fine debate between him and D. B. Clayton, the Universalist Southern Evangelist.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

This is a link to a 23 Feb 2012 article in the Reading, Pennsylvania newspaper about Dr. George DeBenneville I suspect that probably in the next 3-9 months that the article will no longer be gone.I even suggest you look at the comments. (or at least how they were when i wrote the recommendation)

http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=366772

His connection with southern Universalism is two1) his friendship with Ellahanan Winchester (admittedly after EW had left the south)2) his connection with the German Baptist universalist community near him, that did indeed move south to the Carolinas and then west and midwest.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Excepert from Rev. Q. H. Shinn's coloumn "Personal Expericnces In Making Universalists" that appeared in the March 6, 1906 issue of ONWARD

"Now I'm going to tell about a Florida boy. I am at present in the home of his parents in White Springs, Florida, and the boy, their only child, is in Atlanta Ga. Eight years ago his father was a practicing physician in Jasper, Florida. His mother being a strong Universalist had me visit them and give a series of meetings in the Baptist Church. It was easy to secure the use of this church, since his father was a Baptist. One day the boy, then 13 years old, came up into my room, and after showing a little embarrassment, made a request that surprised me. He asked me if I intended to "open the doors of the Church," saying he wanted to join. I told him it would be hardly proper to ask people to unite with the Universalist Church at a service held in a Baptist house of worship; besides there was no organization in Jasper, and only one outspoken Universalist - his mother. But this made no difference with the boy; he wanted to join. At the close of my sermon that night, I explained his wishes, and asked those who desired to unite with the Universalist Church to come forward. Promptly the little fellow stood before the altar, and one of the intelligent ladies of the place, a friend of his mother, came up and stood by his side. I administered baptism, and extended the fellowship of our Church, and sent their names to be recorded on the roll of members at De Funiak Springs. The boy had good Universalist blood in his veins. His mother is a Cawthon, her father a great Universalist. Her grandfather, John Cawthon, the father of Universalism in Western Florida. And now the boy is a promising young man, ambitious to be a great surgeon. He is in a medical college in Atlanta. He is worker in our church in Atlanta. He is secretary of the Y.P.C.U. His name is John Allred. "

This modern-day non-family member has no idea if John Allred continued as a member of the Universalist Church pass the dates mentioned above (c1899 -1906), nor do I know why he didn't became a surgeon. We know that both his father and his father's father were medical doctors (his father actually had an article of his reprinted as a booklet for massive distribution), so no doubt there was pressure on him, the only child to also be a doctor. He was in medical school from at least 1906 - 1910, but around 1912, he became an electrician - at first wiring a town and owning a telephone company, then providing the knowledge to power mining equipment and towns, and then to help electrify Florida for what became the Florida Power and Light Company (now Progress Energy). He married also around 1913 (and his wife was the telephone operator of his telephone company).

Mrs. I. P. Allred was Vice President of the Florida Universalist Convention from 1910-1911.Her sister and father had been officers of the Convention prior to her service. The state convention was held at White Springs in 1905.